contents
& credits
The speed of change in organisations and communities
is so fast it’s hard to keep up. Innovation, reinvention,
new vision, new structure, new products, new focus,
new markets, new approach. Expand or die. Innovate
or wilt. Change or get left behind. Organisations and
communities are under the spotlight, and never more so
are the professionals managing the change - the irony
being, change professionals also have to change. New
skills, new perspectives, new ideas …
Over the last few months I have had the bene t
of meeting with a diverse range of leaders and
specialists who are either igniting, enabling or nudging
change. Through these discussions there has been a
consistent theme – the traditional skills within a change
manager’s toolbox are no longer enough.
Program plans, rigid templates, gantt charts are
great and they may get you to the big milestone
… but they don’t enable or result in long term
sustainable outcomes. Instead skills such as coaching,
empathy, mindfulness, resilience, agility, stakeholder
engagement; and alternate approaches to problem
solving such as user experience and human-centric or
design thinking, lead to more enriching and successful
change results.

So when pulling together the program for
ChangeJam16, we consciously brought together a
diverse range of innovative social, corporate and
public leaders; along with specialist consultants, to help
reframe, reinvent and rebuild change professional’s
skills and perspectives. We have also aligned ourselves
with local leading organisations to sponsor and
support us with this initiative.
Thank you to our presenters, for giving up their time
and sharing their ideas and insights, and to our
sponsors for their commitment to our community.

Gold Sponsor

Silver Sponsors

Networking Sponsor

We hope you enjoy ChangeJam16!
Susan Stewart
Chair, ChangeConnect

Supporter
•2

THE JOURNEY
OF CHANGE

GET
CURIOUS

OPENING
CLOSED DOORS

RISK & REWARD OF
ROSE-COLOURED
GLASSES

THE STRATEGY
OF GAMES

INNOVATING THE
INNOVATOR

LISTEN IS THE
NEW TALK

CHANGEJAM16
PROGRAM

4

10

17

7

11

21

8

13

CHANGEJAM16
PRESENTERS

22

3•

the journey of change
Never one to shy from a challenge, CEO Kate Thiele’s leadership
of Guide Dogs, SA/NT has transformed the not-for-pro t into a
proactive and purpose-driven sustainable organisation. Last year,
Kate’s achievements were recognised with a 2015 Telstra Business
Woman of the Year Award, Purpose & Social Enterprise; and 2015
Harvard Club of Australia Fellowship. ChangeConnect sat down
with Kate to talk growth, challenges and the value of connecting
people through the journey of change.
ChangeConnect: Coming from a corporate
background, what attracted you to not-for-pro t?

Kate: I didn’t start in the not-for-pro t sector and in
some ways my journey was by accident. It wasn’t on
my early radar. I started my career in health then
switched to retail and then manufacturing. I am known
for my Kate-isms and during this time my rst Kateism was born: “amazing people can do amazing
things”. I believed that I could use my experience in
health, service, sales and leadership to truly make a
difference.

My inspiration and motivation are the incredible
stores of what can be achieved by people living
with disability; the results of their determination.
It combined my love of leading dynamic teams to
achieve growth and aligned with my commitment to
social enterprise. I enjoy seeing results and how this has
changed people’s lives.
ChangeConnect: Guide Dogs SA/NT has transformed
under your leadership. How did you approach the
transformation?

Kate: Financial stability is the foundation stone on
which a non-for-pro t organisation can achieve its
mission. I came to Guide Dogs SA/NT immediately
after the Global Financial Crisis when the economy
was unpredictable and the public’s commitment to
charity-giving was uncertain due to their own concerns
about the future.
•4

We needed a rm, nancial footing to ensure ongoing capacity to deliver services; but also to ensure a
dynamic, achieving staff resource could be attracted,
retained and developed.
Using my sales and marketing expertise I brokered
new income streams for Guide Dogs through regular
giving programs linked to puppy sponsorship taking
donors through the Guide Dog journey through regular
newsletters and updates. Through the program we
have tripled turnover and grown active donors along
with regular donors. This provides a connected base
to share our stories and promote new services and
referrals. Along the way I learned the importance of
having a goal, bringing in the best expertise to help
chart the way forward and have a forward-thinking
plan that stands up to rigorous scrutiny in its detail.
Above all I learned to have courage in my decisionmaking, have a great team around me and be bold.
ChangeConnect: How has the new National Disability
Insurance Scheme changed the operating environment
within your business? And how have you prepared the
business for the change?

Kate: The National Disability Insurance Scheme (NDIS)
is a symbol of how we as a society have said disability
services must be more adequately funded. Through
NDIS we will empower people living with disability to
choose services by putting the funding imperative in
their hands. But NDIS won’t be the magic panacea for
disability services. The need is too great.

At Guide Dogs we are taking a client-centric approach
to our service delivery; examining what we deliver,
how we deliver and whether we need to actually
continue to do all that we currently do.
Marketing of our services so we remain top of mind
and rst choice for services will be critical. We’ve
increased productivity through a mobile workforce with
clinicians using mobile technology to be able to write
up case notes in the eld and an open space work
environment for closer collaboration between teams.
While the NDIS will enable organisations in the notfor-pro t sector to increase services. Philanthropy is
and will remain an essential part of a mature society
as the need is great. Bruce Bonyhady the Chairman of
the National Disability Insurance Agency has said that
under the NDIS about 460,000 people will receive
individual funding packages. This is a fraction of the
more than 2.5 million Australians with a disability.

ChangeConnect: How do you create a culture that can
handle these types of changes?
Kate: Invest in and believe in your people. Take them
on the journey with you. Be honest and open and be
brave enough to tell them that we might not have all
the answers yet; the way forward may be unclear, but
we will get there together.

Challenges particularly in change management are an
opportunity to reshape and rede ne your goals.

I thrive on challenge. It is important to also create an
environment where people have the opportunity to
learn. I am deeply committed to lifelong learning and
recognising the results of individuals and teams.
ChangeConnect: Do you think managing this sort
of change is more dif cult in not-for-pro t than
corporate?

Kate: Both have challenges to ensure success. In the
not-for-pro t sector we always need to ensure that we
keep sight of the end goal – providing independence,
safety and inclusion to our clients; they are the ones
that matter most.

So every change must be for the bene t of our clients
to enable them to lead the lives they want; not the
ones they were dealt with. In the future we will need to
be extremely business savvy and nimble and market
our services better.
ChangeConnect: How would you describe your
leadership style?

Kate: Inclusion and seeking divergent opinions. My
philosophy on leading and managing people is to
ensure that people know the mission and vision of their
organisation; where they t and how they contribute
to it and they are recognised for success. A common
purpose is so critical to success.
I also believe that amazing people need good
managers and it’s important to provide upskilling
opportunities.

5•

I drive a continuous improvement model and like to
set by example. I constantly talk about our vision for
the future and outline why. Why is so important so
people can connect with the journey.
ChangeConnect: Last year you attended the
Strategic Perspectives in Nonpro t Management at
Harvard Business School in Boston. (Kate attended
with a fully funded non-pro t fellowship, being one
of only two CEOs nationally to be chosen to and the
rst South Australian to win a spot since the program
started). What was your key take-away from that
experience?

Kate: Harvard was a game changer. To be in a
room with 158 CEOs and business leaders from notfor-pro ts from all around the world was amazing.
It focussed attention on developing a strategy,
measuring impact and drive success. It brought all
the facets of sound business management back
to mission. It had a profound impact, focusing
speci cally on not-for-pro ts and high impact social
interventions.
ChangeConnect: Leading change is demanding.
How do you maintain your mental and physical
stamina?
Kate: Balancing home and career is always a
juggling act. My home is my special place and
sanctuary. My family are my rock.

•6

I have three beautiful children; all at different stages
of their life – one just nished university, one still at
uni and one in high school. No question, the best thing
I have ever done. It is a joy to see their values unfold.
I have come to love yoga and Xtend Barre and after
years of giving my body little attention, too much
coffee and not enough sleep, I am loving the sense
of vitality, strength and exibility I now have! A
wonderful garden with animals and kids everywhere
is a busy place, but also somewhere to escape and
just be quiet to charge the batteries.
ChangeConnect: What’s your best piece of advice
for change leaders?

Kate: The most powerful thing you can do is be real.
I have come to value authenticity. Deliver what you
say you will deliver and build trust. Trustworthiness
is something you earn, along with respect. It’s not
related to role, gender or circumstance.
Humility is important too – success and achieving
milestones is always best when it is shared with your
team. If you are not real, you can manage, but you
can’t motivate or indeed lead because you are too
remote.

Kate Thiele has been the Chief Executive Of cer of
Guide Dogs SA/NT since 2009. For the last three
years the organisation has been voted Australia’s most
trusted charity.

get curious
When I was nine years old my parents bought me a copy of the
Encyclopedia Britannica and my own radio. Those two elements, as
well as a lack of TV, fostered a sense of curiosity about the world
around me. I always got the sense from my parents that they felt
that they were providing me access to all the key knowledge in the
world.
Fast forward to 2016 and I have access through the
internet either through a PC or an iPhone in my pocket
to more knowledge than I could ever have imagined
possible back in 1970. You would think that we would
use this to make a better world through knowledge,
however we probably share photos of our life, a
means of having a heated discussion in less than
140 characters or share cat photos looking at my
Instagram.

Within an organisation, with the increased connectivity
that we have, we should be looking to a owering of
curiosity to tackle the issues that af ict our world and
to make that dent in the universe.
In reality however most knowledge workers feel they
are drowning under a tsunami of knowledge and can
never switch off from the tyranny of work leading to
other things such as the atrophication of the curiosity
muscle.

The key problem is that our minds are designed for a
different era and haven’t been able to evolve to meet
the speed of technology.
We need something to help us make sense. A step
forward is to take time out during stages of a project
lifecycle to do a 30-minute knowledge review.

When I’m discussing with management the many
bene ts of knowledge reviews I highlight that it offers
people an opportunity to re ect on the work that they
have done to date but also as an encouragement to
identify gaps that they would want to ll.

When the notes for that review are circulated it gives
the attendees the opportunity to not only review what
has been said, but most importantly an opportunity to
think how they are going to implement the actions and
consider potential improvements, such as what kind of
business problems can we solve with this? How will we
prioritise the ones to go after?
People can be instruments of the sublime and
create an array of wonderful things, but it needs
organisations to encourage people to step back, get
off the wheel and get curious.

In the era of the knowledge worker – its curiosity
and application that lead to corporate success and
that encouraging reviews on your work at key stages
are an investment in the future and not a cost to be
discouraged.
Based in London, Andrew Trickett is the Knowledge
and Information Manager within Arup’s global rail
team and has over 15 years’ experience in the eld of
knowledge management.

7•

opening closed doors
In 2014, Erma Ranieri took
over as South Australia’s
commissioner for public sector
employment, heading the newly
created Of ce of the Public
Sector.

Known for her authenticity
and tenacity, Erma has
successfully brought together
the previously separate bodies
responsible for human resource,
workforce analysis, performance
management, leadership
development, reform and
renewal; setting professional
standards and encouraging
excellence and innovation across
the public sector.
ChangeConnect met with
Erma to learn more about her
leadership approach.
•8

ChangeConnect: There have been major changes in
the public sector during your career. How have those
affected the way you lead?

Erma: What has changed is the role of leadership
and its commitment to be adaptive to new challenges
and innovation. Leaders are having to transform from
“people in power” with old paradigms and ways of
thinking. Organisational cultures that are risk averse
and that fear innovation, “visibility over results”.

I have overcome these through examining the system
and removing barriers, increasing workplace exibility
and work conditions that provide opportunity for
all staff. Promoting a values based approach
and de ning behaviours and promoting individual
accountability for reform, change, creativity and
innovation through a number of programs and
recognising people for this.
ChangeConnect: What are your ambitions for the
Of ce of the Public Sector?

Erma: Ambitions for the of ce “world leading public
sector that serves South Australians well, does what
is says it will do, and to which every public servant
is proud to belong”. My hope is that every public
servant can feel proud to belong to the public service
and nd better ways to serve the citizens of SA. The
biggest opportunity is striving to modernise and lift
the professional excellence, develop our people to
be leaders, and forging our future through innovative
reform programs that live the public sector values
through service and collaboration.
ChangeConnect: How do you see your role in this
transformation?

Erma: Pivotal as a role model for senior leaders and in
particular women.

As Commissioner there is opportunity to have a
signi cant impact on the implementation of the code
of ethics and values and behaviours. Aligning the
priorities of the government with the Chief Executive
Performance agreements and developing a robust
performance management and development system
for every public servant.

Creating this line of sight and providing everyone
with the opportunity to develop will have a signi cant
impact on the achievement of these priorities.
ChangeConnect: Describe your leadership style?
Erma: I would describe my leadership style as
authentic. That’s not to say that everyone will be
comfortable with this.

I believe I am honest, transparent and genuine.
However sometimes organisational conventions get
in the way of this. Sometimes leaders suppress
behaviours that are perceived as ‘feminine’ or too
‘soft’.

As a mother I had lots of tensions about having to
make choices and trade-offs when it came to juggling
career and family responsibilities.
Most important for me as a leader is to stay in touch
with my instincts, be clear about my values, priorities
and preferences.
ChangeConnect: You are known for opening closed
doors. How have you achieved that?

Erma: Quite simply I never see it as a closed door. It
comes back to my con dence in my own abilities, the
passion I have for leaving the public sector in a better
position from when I started.

We all need to consider the legacy you wish to
leave and nd a way of building your drive, passion,
resilience and tenacity to make it happen, no matter
what the obstacles.
Most important is to have fun opening the door!

ChangeConnect: Leading change is demanding. How
do you maintain your mental and physical stamina?
Erma: Have some great sponsors and mentors and
they are different!

I do pilates twice a week and have a wonderful
extended family. Eating well and practicing
mindfulness techniques when I feel things are getting
the better of me. This has taken years to perfect, I
feel that I am the most con dent right now in my career
phase. It is all part of the journey!
ChangeConnect: What advice would you give to your
younger self?
Erma: Don’t be in such a hurry and saviour each
moment in life! Don’t ever compromise your personal
values for a short term gain. See mistakes as a
positive opportunity to see things in different ways.
Never walk your life journey on your own, surround
yourself with people you can trust.

Erma Ranieri oversees the Of ce for the Public Sector.
She was named 2014 Telstra Business Woman of the
Year and SA Winner of the Telstra Community and
Government Award for her role in leading transformational change throughout the public sector.

9•

risks and rewards of
rose-coloured glasses
If you were allowed one wish for your child, seriously
consider wishing them optimism.
Optimists are normally cheerful and happy, and
therefore popular; they are resilient in adapting
to failures and hardships, their chances of clinical
depression are reduced, their immune system is
stronger’. So writes Daniel Kahnemann, the Nobel
Prize winner who has dedicated his life to studying
the impact of cognitive biases on human thought and
behaviour.

The central tenet of Kahnemann’s work is that our
unconscious thinking processes are deeply awed,
and will frequently deceive us if left to their own
devices. He urges us to apply our conscious thinking to
techniques that mitigate the undesirable consequences
of bias. In the context of change, such consequences
include:
1. A preference to make decisions and take
actions that maintain the current state of
affairs (status quo bias).
2. Failure to accurately estimate the time and
cost required to complete a change initiative
(the planning fallacy).
3. Overlooking important data because it
doesn’t t with our existing beliefs
(con rmation bias).

Yet when it comes to optimism bias, Kahnemann
proposes that no greater gift could be bestowed upon
a child.

No wonder, then, that an increasing number of
employers are investing in resilience programs for their
people. The ever-increasing pace of organisational
change requires those involved to learn and/or grow
in the face of stressors and changing demands. And
the skills developed in resilience training are, to a
signi cant degree, aimed at fostering an optimism
bias, at providing us with the capacity to frame
ourselves, our circumstances, other people and change
itself in the most positive way possible.
Who doesn’t want happy, resilient, healthy
individuals working with and for them? As a director
of a consultancy that delivers resilience programs,
I’ve witnessed rst-hand the bene cial impact
that the optimism bias has on people’s problemsolving abilities, their response to change and their
relationships.
I take Kahnemann’s advice seriously – my ve and
eight-year-old are subject to frequent exhortations
to ‘seek out the good’ in others, and could probably
recite verbatim my child-friendly (I may, admittedly,
•be
10biased!) spiel on the bene ts of gratitude.

But as a consultant who works with organisations to
mitigate biases in decision-making so that they can
successfully navigate the fast-changing world they
inhabit, I’m also determined to develop my children’s
rational thinking skills.

I want them to know how to seek out and analyse
evidence for and against different perspectives. I
want them to approach life’s big decisions, problems
and challenges equipped with the ability to mitigate
the cognitive biases that may lead them astray. I want
them to understand that thinking rationally gives one
a better chance of acting in accordance with one’s
interests than thinking optimistically.

Because as individuals, and within organisations, we
need to know when to remove the optimism spectacles.
We need to understand that making people feel good
doesn’t necessarily make people perform better (or
even well). We need to identify when individual and
organisational performance depends not on optimism,
but on establishing – as near as is humanly possible
– the objective reality of an existing situation, or the
statistical probability of a future event occurring, or
the precise events that led to a serious error.

The answer? Give people the tools to manage
themselves, their emotions and their relationships.
Increase their sense of agency and help them to feel
good – or at least better. In other words, develop
their resilience. But make them aware that relentless
optimism is not a prerequisite for resilience, and that
at times it will serve them well to relinquish optimism
in the interests of realism. Show them that, just as they
have learned to cultivate positivity in their conscious
thoughts, they can learn to cultivate curiosity, reasoning
skills and scepticism.

Organisations and individuals need to encourage the
optimism bias. Hope, self-compassion, gratitude and
positive emotion support people to be more resilient.
And our organisations, our communities and our society
need resilient individuals. But overcoming the economic,
social and ethical challenges facing our organisations
– let alone our world – requires rational thinkers. So
by all means, help your people reap the bene ts of
wearing rose-coloured glasses. Just make sure they
(and you) know when to take them off.
Anna Lee is a director at Leed Consulting. Her passion
is translating recent research and theoretical concepts
into learning experiences that create lasting change in
people, teams and organisations.

the strategy of games
Games are a great Aussie tradition with plenty of
lessons for your business, says Hood Sweeney’s Director
of Consulting and Performance Coaching, Simon Starr.
Analysing game tactics can sharpen your strategic
thinking in business, as Simon realised when coaching
his son’s footy team a few years ago.

“One of the principles I adopted was to give everyone
a fair go — easy if you’re just happy to give
everyone a run. But I’m success-oriented and believe
it’s important to empower the kids with self-belief and
understanding that success is a learned habit,” Simon
says.

“Having a common
purpose made it more
about the team game and
individuals continued
to develop in that
framework”

“Everyone enjoys success more than failure so if we can
help them understand the mechanics of success versus
the mechanics of failure, coaching extends beyond the
footy eld.”

This has important implications in a business sense
too. Although most teams in life don’t need to give
everyone a fair go, nearly every team has a mix of
abilities.

“We had some good players, a bit like the back row
on the chess board. We also had a few who were
relatively unskilled. These were our front-row pawns
who were not as in uential but had a role to play in
our success,” he says.

“I take this approach of drawing tangible lessons from
life to business coaching, helping people to achieve a
goal, create a moment, shift a habit or build a legacy,”
he says.

With this in mind, Simon began to think of each match
as a game of chess, deploying players with varying
skill levels to bene t the team as a whole and to give
everyone a fair go.

“Each game became about forward planning and
positioning players to ultimately create ‘check mate’
and be in front at the nal siren. Starting with this end
in mind, the game became about positioning for this
moment.”

This gave the team tactical agility and clarity about
the role each player performed in the team’s success.
By being clear about our goal, we could try new
things. The team could also be exible about how it
was going to meet the long term objective and could
avoid becoming reactive to what was happening in the
moment.

“Chess board lessons can apply to any team building,”
says Simon. “Many people do not realise the strategic
skills they already have to bring to their business and
their team.

Simon Starr is a Director of Hood Sweeney Consulting
and Performance Coaching. As a coach with over 20
years’ experience, Simon has worked successfully and
enduringly with sports teams, athletes, corporations,
SMEs, and executives.

“Having a common purpose made it more about the
team game and individuals continued to develop in
that framework,” Simon says.
“It delivered real-life micro-lessons in sacri ce, teamoriented goals, discipline and support. It also forced
me, as the team leader, to think laterally, stay true
to the philosophy, and communicate in a way that
engaged everybody.”

11 •

• 12

innovating the innovator
I have had the opportunity to work on some
fascinating projects over the years. Many of these
projects have been successfully delivered with clients
who knew exactly what it was that they wanted to
do and what outcomes they needed to achieve. For
example, a global private bank client asked me to
co-create a new Customer Value Proposition and
Investment Management experience for their Ultra
High Net Worth clients in Hong Kong and Singapore.
The brief was accurate and the client co-developed
the solution with me ensuring that the project was
aligned to a unique customer experience but also
achieved key commercial outcomes.

Occasionally though we have clients who know that
they need to do something to improve their customer
experience but don’t know exactly what it is or
how to approach it. This is the story of a client who
approached me with a brief that was entitled “who is
the customer?”

The brief was from a global organisation that is
regarded as one of the leader’s in providing solutions
that enable companies to innovate. In other words,
the innovator needed to innovate their own customer
experience but were unsure of how to go about it.
The context

The client was a multinational enterprise software
company with a long and proud history of providing
innovative products and solutions for their customers.
The client offers a wide range of end-to-end solutions
that are grouped into three key areas: Business
applications, Analytics and Cloud computing platform.
In 2011, the CEO received a letter from the owner
of one of the world’s top Formula 1 teams asking him
how the two organisations could better collaborate.
The Formula 1 owner was excited by what cloud
computing could do for his technical teams and for
interpreting real-time data. He was also interested
to learn if the software company had something
that could improve the experience of his hospitality
customers.

“Occasionally though, we
have clients who know that
they need to do something
to improve their customer
experience but don’t know
exactly what it is or how to
approach it.
In other words could they help improve the Formula 1
experience of the “customer’s customer?” This led the
software company to think about who their customers
really were and to rede ning their own customer
experience.
When the client started to explore options for
rede ning their customer experience they faced a
number of signi cant obstacles.

First, people within the organisation tended to think
about the customer experience as being about
aesthetic qualities-like making the marketing brochures
more appealing or changing the visuals on the website.
Second, the organisation also worked in “silos” with
very little collaboration between the pre-sales,
consulting and implementation teams.

Traditionally the organisation would start with a
problem, usually de ned in a Request for Proposal
(RFP), and build a solution based on known products
and solutions.

For example, if an enterprise customer approached
them for a Customer Relationship Management solution
the pre-sales team would quickly gather the technical
requirements and build a solution whilst also thinking
about how their solution compared to that of their
major competitors.

13 •

However, pre-sales rarely consulted with other divisions
for insight and more often than not would ‘assume’ that
the RFP was both accurate in terms of its requirements
and objectives.
Third, the organisation was already the market leader
and dominated many industry sectors. This made it
even more dif cult to initiate a change program as
many people felt that they were already at “the top
of their game.”
The solution

To provide a unique experience for customers, an
organisation must rst decide who the customer is and
what needs they have. It might seem strange to ask
“who is the customer” but look at it this way.
Suppose you provide software solutions to airlines
that enable them to receive online bookings through
their website. Is your customer the airline or is it the
passenger?

This is an important part of re-de ning the customer
experience. If the answer is the airline then the solution
can be driven by looking at the technical speci cations,
legacy systems and user experience. If on the other
hand the answer is the passenger the experience
starts to look a lot different. The airlines will want
to ensure that passengers feel that the end to end
online booking process is amongst other things, simple,
convenient and secure. The word feel is important here
as the online booking experience must be one that
helps the customer deal with pain points, moments of
truth and their own mindset.

The customer experience that an organisation provides
can vary considerably based on answers to the
question “who is the customer?” In order to de ne the
solution with the client we asked the following questions
(in no particular order, table right):

Who is the customer? Is the customer
external or internal? Is it all customers
or a speci c segment?..
What is driving the need for change?
Is it customer-led or is it internally
driven?

What is the organisation’s appetite for
change? Short, medium and longerterm?

Who is driving the customer experience
initiative?
What would the organisation gain
from enhancing the customer
experience? Market share? Increase in
Net Promoter Score (NPS)? A better
CVP?...
Where are the biggest “gaps” in the
current customer experience?

If time and money weren’t a constraint
on this project where would you invest
your time and effort to improve the
overall customer experience?

The guiding principle behind this approach is to de ne
what matters to customers and how your business is
best organised to achieve this: truly game-changing
customer-experiences requires input and participation
from the widest set of stakeholders possible.

Those stakeholders, customers in particular, have to
feel that their input is valued and are in a position to
co-create solutions, while still staying focused on what
is needed and what is commercially-viable. And the
stakeholders need to be guided by the owners of the
customer experience who can help sift through the
many ideas and help translate them into something not
just doable, but game-changing as well.

• 14

Many programs of work were developed including
segmenting data, diagnostics, focus groups, change
management and training. However, the overall
solution to help our client to deliver a unique customer
experience for their customers and to answer “who
is the customer” embraced the principles of design
thinking.
Developed by IDEO founder David Kelley, design
thinking is de ned as “a human-centered approach
to innovation that draws from the designer’s toolkit
to integrate the needs of people, the possibilities of
technology, and the requirements for business success.”
Design thinking was an ideal framework for our client
because it helped them focus on developing a deeper
understanding of the customer’s journey and enabled
them to co-create solutions that would match their
needs—as opposed to just delivering technology
solutions for technology’s sake.
We started out by training the pre-sales team in the
principles of design thinking with an emphasis placed
on problem nding. The training consisted of 1 or 2
day design thinking workshops which covered:
• The principles of design thinking
• Understanding the customer’s journey, pain
points, moments of truth and mindset
• Delving deeper to into the customer
experience
• Prototyping and iterating proposed solutions
• Case studies
• Account immersion

Importantly the workshops used immersion so that the
participants could gain valuable insights into how to
apply the principles of design thinking directly to one
of their existing accounts.
Cross-functional teams worked on speci c accounts
in the morning and were joined by customers in the
afternoon. Interestingly customers who joined with us
on the programs were initially sceptical about being
involved at all.

Customers were drawn from various industries including
nancial services, luxury goods, government, airlines,
hospitality, automotive and technology. In most
instances these same customers ended up leading
many of the conversations and provided insights that
would not normally have been possible in an account
relationship. In fact many of the customers asked us to
if we could deliver the same programs for their teams.
The results

During the programs we were able to develop a
number of solutions including:

Demo-apps: Our design and development team based
in Singapore were able to take sketches that were
developed during the programs and develop them
into demo-apps within 72 hours. The apps themselves
weren’t necessarily the end solution but instead
demonstrated the team’s thinking and approach.
Videos: Many of the ideas generated on the programs
revolved around the use of short videos.
Account teams recognised that many of their solutions
were complex and highly technical. In order to appeal
to a broader audience we developed videos that
focused on the customer’s interaction with technology
rather than the technology itself.

Customer journey maps: This activity served to highlight
opportunities to improve the customer experience at
all stages of the sales cycle. Many of the solutions
required changes to sales processes, touch points
(websites, commercials and workshops), mindsets and
proposed solutions.
Customer experience strategy: Essentially a plan
of action for improving the customer experience at
all stages of the sales cycle and align this to each
individual customer’s journey.

The client’s quest for improving their customer’s
customer experience promoted greater linkages
between the client their customers and their customer’s
customer. This led to the development of Innovation
Labs which were based on the principles of cocreation, rapid ideation and customer centricity.
In analysing and debrie ng our approach to this
project, there are no right or wrong answers for the
questions posed above.

There are however, some principles and guidelines
that when applied to a speci c opportunity or context
for an organisation are likely to improve the customer
experience. In other words, a number of design
principles, processes and practices can be identi ed
to bring about growth and innovation in the Customer
experience, sales organisation and sales people.

Andrew MacDonald PhD, is widely regarded as an
expert in design thinking with a particular emphasis
on the customer experience. He co-creates consulting
services and training programs globally in nancial
services, high tech, telecommunications, government
and retail.

15 •

listen is the new talk
The question hits like a slap across the face.

What is the contemporary thinking and practices of
great change management?
Despite almost two decades working in change
management, I didn’t have an answer.

Despite a work history with large and often complex
organisations; despite my experience in leadership,
organisational development and change management;
despite a full tool-kit of models, frameworks,
processes, experiences, challenges and successes, I
really wasn’t sure how to respond.

As a newly-independent consultant, chasing more
understanding partly inspired me to undertake further
studies in change management. Studying was also a
commitment that I made to myself, scratching that everpresent itch of curiosity. However the question only got
deeper.
Did being contemporary have anything to do with
effective change management?

I kept coming back to these questions as I participated
in my course. The models were the same, the research
was the same, the authors, frameworks and processes
were the same. Organisational challenges were
mostly the same - albeit moving faster than ever and the challenges facing tired and worn out change
management practitioners also appeared to be the
same.

How on earth do we get our clients, our executives, our
managers, and our staff to get on-board and engaged
in a time of change? And then it started to come to me.
In trying to answer this question of engagement with
my fellow change managers I uncovered - in part - the
answer
to my questions.
• 16

Conversation – so simple and
overlooked - could unlock a
contemporary approach to
engagement in all of our change
efforts and create an attitude
where we really do want to hear
what everyone wants to tell us.

And I nearly missed it!

It was an almost invisible reference (and easily
overlooked amongst all the other models) to
‘The World Café’- Shaping Our Futures through
Conversations That Matter’. If you’re not familiar with
Juanita Brown, David Isaacs and the World Café
Community; in summary it’s a way to engage people in
conversations that matter, based on the foundation that
conversation is at the core. http://www.theworldcafe.
com/#
There it is. Conversation.

What struck me about this approach to engagement
is that it’s based on a pretty ‘old’ practice: the art
of conversation. It’s the ability to speak and listen,
the desire to understand another’s perspective and
connecting through our ideas.

It’s the belief that the knowledge and wisdom we
need to solve our challenges are already present and
accessible – if only we really try.

This insight led me to a place where I routinely use
this ‘contemporary’ (yet very ancient) practice of
engagement through ‘conversations that matter’ with
my clients and their organisations.
You know what? It works!

Where I’ve put it into practice the outcomes, insights
and engagement of those impacted by change have
been rich, progressive and empowering. It’s helped
people understand change, and given them a chance
to respond. They’ve taken the opportunity to shape
the change and be truly engaged in the process. They
speak, they’re heard, and most importantly they’ve
been able to solve some of their most challenging
problems.
More than anything I’ve been struck by what we hear
when we stop to listen.

And does it have anything to do with effective change
management, where effective change management
is about implementing the tools and resources
(contemporary and/or ancient) at our disposal to
ensure the collective insights and understanding of
an organisation are used to enable it to achieve its
objectives?

I’ve decided it’s not important for change management
theories and frameworks to be contemporary per se. It
isn’t about having a new tool, a new theory, or a new
buzz word.
We can solve complex problems through something
as ancient as talking and listening. Just imagine
what we can achieve if we combine proven and
effective change management models, practices and
engagement with having conversations that matter?

Is the practice of asking a question and listening to the
answer at all contemporary? Maybe not in the theory,
but it appears to be in execution.

It started with a slap across the face and ended in a
World Café: zzing with energy, purpose and a new
understanding that the ancient art of conversation may
be the most contemporary engagement tool we as
change managers have.

Conversation – so simple and overlooked - could
unlock a contemporary approach to engagement in all
of our change efforts and create an attitude where we
really do want to hear what everyone wants to tell us.

Helene Egan is a business and management consultant
with over 20 years’ experience in strategically
signi cant and often complex initiatives in large and
multinational entities. She is currently a Partner &
Principal Consultant at 6 Degrees Consulting.

In our mad rush to ‘communicate’ and to execute on
our plans we often miss this trick, almost as though it’s
too simple and unsophisticated for our enthusiasm and
energy for ‘newness’.

So, back to the question.

What is the contemporary thinking and practices of
great change management?
17 •

The new working environment has been designed to strengthen
the internal community culture of the organisation, empowering
teams and individuals alike. Using a next-generation activity-based
working model, the new headquarters provides a exible and
adaptable environment which exes and absorbs change over time.
The increased agility of staff promotes movement within the work
place and collaboration across the business.

Working ‘Better Together’ is at the core of everything People’s
Choice Credit Union do. These two words became the driving force
behind the spatial planning, material selection and ner construction
detailing. The result is a work place solution that embodies the DNA
of the organisation from the macro to the micro.

Joe Madiath has spent 30 years working
in development among the poorest
communities in Oris-sa, India. Drawn
there in 1971 to help communities that
had been ravaged by a cyclone, Joe
stayed on as an activist focused on
sustainable development projects. He
founded Gram Vikas in 1979 and has
served as executive director ever since,
growing Gram Vikas into one of the
larg-est non-governmental organizations
(NGOs) in Orissa. Gram Vikas originally
focused on providing renewable energy
for rural communities, building more than
54,000 biogas units.
Over time, Gram Vikas developed its
more holistic model of development,
based on Joeâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s con-viction that every
family in a village must have healthy
living practices and an improved quality
of life before total development can
occur. This model has transformed at
least 289 villages and has successfully
proven that the rural poor can and will
pay for better sanitation and water
facilities.
@GramVikasIN

â&#x20AC;˘ 20

ANDREW TRICKETT

ANDREW MACDONALD
Managing Director,
Mieza Consulting

Director,
Leed Consulting

Andrew Trickett is Knowledge and
Information Manager within Arup’s
global rail team and has over 15 years’
experience in the eld of knowledge
management.

Andrew MacDonald has more than 25
years experience in consulting, nancial
services and design thinking. He is
widely regarded as an expert in design
thinking with a particular emphasis on
the human-centred design, the customer
experience, strategy, sales enablement.

After a diverse career spanning the
higher education, publishing and
entertainment industries, Anna Lee
established her own consultancy in
2008, when her rst child was 6 weeks
old. Her mission: to support women to
take charge of their lives and careers.

Global Rail Knowledge &
Information Manager, Arup

Recognised globally across Arup as a
subject matter expert on Knowledge
Management and Communities of
Practice (COP), Andrew has designed
and delivered numerous innovative and
engaging workshops with employees
from numerous disciplines up to
executive level.

Andrew is particularly interested in the
use of COP’s and project reviews as
a means of capturing tacit knowledge
from people, delivering operational
ef ciencies and driving innovation
within an organisation. He has delivered
knowledge presentations in this area in
London, Hong Kong, Brisbane, Sydney
Johannesburg and San Francisco.
Andrew holds an MBA from Aston
University.
@andrewtrickett
@arupgroup

He is the Founder and Managing
Director of Mieza Consulting which is
a global consultancy that specializes in
transforming the customer experience
for C-suite executives and Entrepreneurs
across the globe.
Andrew’s clients include; JP Morgan,
UBS, HSBC, Standard Chartered,
ANZ, NBNZ, NAB, Westpac, Bank of
Melbourne, Esanda, UDC, SAP, HP and
Telstra. Over the last 15 years, Andrew
has delivered programs in China, India,
Hong Kong, Korea, Japan, Singapore,
Thailand, Malaysia, Australia, New
Zealand, UAE, UK, Canada, USA,
Europe, Ukraine and Russia.

Andrew holds a PhD in Macroeconomics
(University of Melbourne), Bachelor of
Arts, Hons (Flinders University). He is
also an adjunct Professor at the Indian
School of Business in Hyderabad &
Eruditus, Mumbai.
@DocAMac

ANNA LEE

Over the next six years Anna worked
with hundreds of women, and became
increasingly fascinated by the
unconscious biases that underpin human
behaviour - particularly individual
and organisational decision-making. In
2014, her desire to impact on the ‘big
picture’ led her to merge her business
with Leed Consulting, partnering with
her brother Diarmid. A key focus of
Leed is working with leaders to mitigate
bias, maximise effectiveness and make
better decisions.

With a Masters in Professional
Education and Training, Anna’s emphasis
is always upon ensuring that new
knowledge, skills and ways of thinking
lead to immediate and sustainable
action. She is particularly skilled at
helping people develop cognitive habits
that strengthen resilience and improve
performance.
@LeedConsulting

Anthony Paech is one of Australia’s most
passionate advocates of premium food.

Catriona Bryne has over twenty ve
years experience in communication
management and education. Her current
focus is developing and marketing the
new Sageco (comprising 40+ years of
experience with the bringing together
of Donington, Harris Smith and Sageco).

Darlene Mattiske-Wood was appointed
the Deputy Chief Executive and Chief
Strategy, Members & People Of cer
of People’s Choice Credit Union in
February 2016, and is responsible
for aligning the credit union’s people,
strategy, member experience, project
management and communications teams.

As the head of Beerenberg, one of
Australia’s best loved, iconic, familyowned brands and producers of jams,
sauces and condiments, Anthony has
devoted the past 16 years to building
a brand which is in strong demand
from Australian consumers and widely
available internationally through
leading hotels and airlines.

After studying in Western Australia and
completing an MBA, Anthony took the
reins of the family business in 1998.

Since then he has substantially grown
the Beerenberg business, expanding its
range and geographic spread, building
national distribution through Coles,
Woolworths, independent supermarkets
and specialty food outlets.
His success has been acknowledged
with multiple food and business awards
and industry accolades. Under his
leadership, Beerenberg was named
Telstra Business of the Year (SA) in
2011. Anthony is on the Board of the
Australian Food and Grocery Council
(AFGC) and is Chair of peak food
industry body Food South Australia.

• 22

@BeerenbergFarm

Catriona’s transition expertise is in
facilitating ageing workforce programs
including a unique methodology called
Exchange - Sageco’s knowledge
sharing solution.
One of Catriona’s favourite career
highlights was managing the Sydney
2000 Olympic Games Workforce
Communications. She is an agitator for
music education in public schools, a
co-owner of a family farm business, a
mother and a juggler.
@SagecoHQ

Darlene has 12 years of executive
experience with People’s Choice
focused on People and Culture. She
also has over 20 years experience
as a strategic leader reporting at the
CEO and Board level in both private
and semi government organisations
with responsibility for a range of
functions including, transformational
change management, strategic people
and culture including internal/external
brand alignment, organisation strategy
and planning, stakeholder relations,
marketing and customer operations.
Darlene is a Member of the Australian
Institute of Company Directors and has
Bachelor of Management and
Graduate Diploma Management, HR.
@peopleschoiceAU

ERMA RANIERI

JODIE GAFFNEY

KATE THIELE

Commissioner for Public
Sector Employment,
Of ce for the Public Sector

Managing Director,
G Advertising

Chief Executive Of cer,
Guide Dogs SA & NT

Appointed on 1 July 2014,
Commissioner for Public Sector
Employment Erma Ranieri holds a
statutory role under the Public Sector
Act 2009. The Act outlines principles
and guidelines to improve and uphold
public sector performance – it is the
Commissioner’s role to bring these to life
across government.

Business people engage Jodie Gaffney
for her ability to overcome obstacles
with creative forward thinking digital
marketing solutions.

Before joining Guide Dogs as CEO
in 2009, Kate Thiele held key roles
with a top 100 public listed company
in the private sector and with two of
Australia’s leading not-for-pro ts.
Kate has a strong background gained
across industries as diverse as retail,
manufacturing and health.

She was named 2014 Telstra Business
Woman of the Year and SA Winner of
the Telstra Community and Government
Award for her role in leading
transformational change throughout
the public sector.

Erma currently oversees the Of ce
for the Public Sector. The Of ce is
responsible for a number of sector-wide
reform programs.
@ErmaRanieri

In May 2013 at the age of 30,
Jodie acquired OKeeffe Media
(South Australian division) a media
representation company which
was founded in 1983. With an
entrepreneurial mindset Jodie migrated
business contracts and started G
advertising. In the rst six months of
operation new business areas where
formed to cater for social media,
websites and marketing services.
Assisting businesses and offering the
latest digital solutions in the online
space is a passion. Today Jodie works
nationally with SME’s and larger
organisations to provide digital
marketing solutions. Committed to
growing businesses with creativity,
research, analysis and performance.
@GadvertisingOz

In addition to her role at Guide Dogs,
Kate is a Board Member of Minda
Incorporated, chairs their Nominations,
Remuneration and Governance
Committee; is a Board Member of
the Royal Zoological Society of South
Australia and chairs their Risk and
Governance Committee and is on
UniSA’s MBA Advisory Board.

Kate is the rst South Australian to be
awarded a Harvard Business School
Fellowship to undertake the Strategic
Perspectives in Non Pro t Management
program.
In 2015 Kate won the Telstra South
Australian Business Woman of the
Year Award as well as the State and
National ‘For Purpose and Social
Enterprise’ category in the Awards.
@GuideDogsSANT

23 •

LISA TWYFORD

Managing Director,
Clear Decisions

PETER SELTSIKAS

Senior Manager, Asset
Management, SA Water

ROSINA DI MARIA

Lisa Twyford is a highly motivated
professional with extensive business
improvement and project management
experience. As Managing Director
and founder of clear decisionsTM, Lisa
delivers business services across a wide
range of industries to clients such as:
Minter Ellison Lawyers, South Australian
Cricket Association (SACA), SA Water,
University of South Australia, SA Power
Networks, Asthma Foundation SA and
Zoos SA.

Peter Seltsikas is the Senior Manager,
Asset Management for SA Water. He
leads the strategic, operational and
capital investment planning for the
Corporation’s $14bn of infrastructure
assets.

Rosina Di Maria is a Principal in global
architecture and design rm Woods
Bagot. As a recognised industry
leader in design, Rosina has extensive
experience working across Australasia,
the Middle East, Russia and Europe.

Lisa specialises across ve key business
support areas: strategic planning,
business analysis and improvement,
change management, project
management and training.

Lisa’s clients describe her as
professional, focused and results driven
– a trusted advisor to management
and con dant to work colleagues. Her
leadership, patience, persistence and
humor while working on complex change
initiatives would be valued by any
business. Her drive and exceptional
project management skills are the key
to her success. She also enjoys her
philanthropic interests,and divides her
time equally between the not-for-pro t
sector and the private sector.
• 24

@cleardecisions

Peter has 20 years’ experience in the
utility sector, rst within Oil and Gas
and more recently within the Water
industry. Peter has a strong commercial
and operational background and has
held many senior leadership positions
driving business through signi cant
change.
Peter holds a Mechanical Engineering
Degree with Honours and a Masters In
Business Administration.

Peter is a Fellow of the Governor’s
Leadership Foundation, a member
of the Water Services Association of
Australia Asset Management Committee
and a Board Member of the Australian
Dance Theatre Company.
@SAWaterCorp

Principal
Woods Bagot

Rosina returned to Adelaide after
leading the interiors portfolio in the
Woods Bagot London Studio. In the
workplace sector, Rosina led HSBC’s
Global Headquarters at Canary
Wharf and other prestigious projects
for Bloomberg, Barclays Capital, Cisco
and Macquarie Group. As lead interior
designer in London, Rosina delivered
notable projects such as Eccleston
Square Hotel, Doubletree by Hilton and
award winning Minthis Hills Golf Resort
in Cyprus.

On return to Australia, Rosina’s has led
her team in designing the interiors of
the ground breaking South Australian
Health and Medical Research Institute
(SAHMRI), new Headquarters for
People’s Choice Credit Union and
award winning Collins Bar for Hilton.
Rosina is leading the interiors on the
expansion of the Adelaide Convention
Centre, working on the new Westin
Brisbane and is advising the Art Gallery
of South Australia.
@woods_bagot

ChangeConnect is an innovative
change management group
committed to supporting the
profession to connect and
collaborate across specialisations
and organisations.

The idea emerged from a number
of professionals wanting to connect
on ideas, trends and concepts
around change management.
Through regular thought
leadership events (called Change
Hubs), networking and a change
management award, a growing
community has emerged.
Our aim is to provide a dynamic
network that encourages the
sharing ideas, free-range thinking
and connecting people. By
facilitating this community we
hope to in uence and shape the
success of the change management
profession.
Connect with us.

ANDREA
JOHANSEN

Andrea is Senior Manager
Diversity & Inclusion, Bendigo
and Adelaide Bank. She has
been with the Bank since
2008, working within the
space of cultural change and
change communications.

Prior to her current role,
Andrea was the Senior
Manager Employee
Communications, as part
of the Bankâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s internal
communications function. Her
role being integral to the
change management behind
Bank moving their new
activity-based headquarters
on Grenfell Street, Adelaide.
Andrea came to work in
change and communications
via journalism and has a
strong passion for telling
stories.
@bendigobank

â&#x20AC;˘ 26

FELICITY
MCNISH

HELENE
EGAN

LOUISA
ANDREUCCI

SUSAN
STEWART

Felicity McNish is the Global
Knowledge Manager at
international interior design
rm, Unispace.

Helene Egan is a business
and management consultant
with over 20 years’
experience in strategically
signi cant and often complex
initiatives in large and
multinational entities.

Louisa is a client relationship
manager in accounting and
business advisory services at
Hood Sweeney.

Susan Stewart is the Global
Change Manager at global
design rm Unispace. She
has over fteen years’
experience as an in-house
and external specialist
in the areas of change
management, strategy,
communications and
marketing.

She has worked in the
business information and
knowledge management
area for over 20 years in
Australia and the United
Kingdom.

Prior to her current role
Felicity was the Global
Knowledge Manager at
Woods Bagot. She also
undertook a knowledge
and innovation role at APA
group and before that an
Asia Paci c knowledge
management role for Ernst &
Young and Cap Gemini.
Her specialist skills are
in the development of
knowledge strategies and
implementation including
change management,
development and
implementation of
knowledge tools.
@fmcnish

Her working history has
seen her engaged across
a wide range of industries,
organisations and cultures,
including: IBM, Unisys,
Hudson, and Westpac.
More recently she has been
working with local South
Australian customers in the
education, utilities, building,
aged care, IT and services
sectors.

With over seven years
professional experience,
Louisa has advised a number
of individual and small to
medium business clients
across various industries,
with the management of
their income tax affairs,
GST, bookkeeping and the
preparation of their nancial
statements.
As a manager, Louisa is
responsible for the rm’s
delivery of professional
services to small to medium
enterprises and family
businesses.
Louisa’s skills are particularly
appropriate for clients
seeking professional
advice in the areas of
business nancial and
management accounting,
taxation, taxation planning,
cash ow forecasting and
bookkeeping.
Louisa has a Bachelor of
Commerce (Accounting)
and is a CPA.
@hoodsweeney

In her roles, Sue works
closely with leadership to
articulate and implement
the organisational vision
and develop integrated
and aligned change and
communications initiatives
that align with the business’
strategic drivers.

Sue previously worked at
Woods Bagot as Global
Strategic Development &
Change; and Ernst & Young
as a Senior Manager in
Communications and as
a Communications and
Change Consultant. She has
a Masters is Communication
Management and is
particularly interested in
organisational culture and its
impact on change.
@selbystreet